False Advertising?

[ISO50]

Does anyone else think it's false advertising for companies to portray smartwatches in lifestyle shots with their displays powered on — when clearly they would be powered off in real life? Obviously they look more appealing with a perfect reflection free watch face rendering, but will some shoppers be tricked into thinking this is how the product will actually look when worn?

 

[dannyyankou]

I thought this too. Not a big deal though because it'll only light up when you need to see it. But I would still want to display my watch face 24/7 for other people to see.

 

[ditzy]

I've never seen an advert for a phone and the screen is off. Yet most of the time that's how the phone is.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

So what are you going to do about it?

 

[The Doctor11]

It's on when I want it to be on and that's all that I care about.

 

[dacreativeguy]

Same with TV, computer, stereo. Every sales promo for a product shows the product in use. Move along. Nothing to see here.

 

[Piggie]

What about women wearing makeup.

They take it off and OMG !!!!

 

[dannyyankou]

I've never seen an advert for a phone and the screen is off. Yet most of the time that's how the phone is.

But the point is that Apple uses pictures of the watch when it's not tilted up and pointed to the user. In real life, it'll be on standby mode. I see the OP's point.

 

[ISO50]

But I would still want to display my watch face 24/7 for other people to see.

Exactly

I've never seen an advert for a phone and the screen is off. Yet most of the time that's how the phone is.

That's not really a fair comparison — you don't wear a phone on your body for the world to see. A watch is a piece of jewelry and the watch face is one of the more unique aspects of the aesthetic.

So what are you going to do about it?

I'm going to start a thread on a message forum

It's on when I want it to be on and that's all that I care about.

If that's all that matters to you then great, but myself and I think the majority of people who wear a watch wear it as a piece of jewelry first.

----------

Look at the difference with the screen powered off. It goes from looking like a Rolex to some boring black screen strapped to your wrist.

 

[ditzy]

I've been taking a lot of notice of watches recently, for obvious reasons. What I've noticed is that you rarely can see the face of someone's watch as it is covered by their sleeve. Their phones on the other hand, is out there for everyone to see the blank screen.

 

[BvizioN]

But the point is that Apple uses pictures of the watch when it's not tilted up and pointed to the user. In real life, it'll be on standby mode. I see the OP's point.

Display stays up to 10 seconds on after each use.So literally someone could have just used it and then position the arm to where it is captured on the pic. Can you prove that's not what happened in the pics?

 

[8CoreWhore]

Display stays up to 10 seconds on after each use.So literally someone could have just used it and then position the arm to where it is captured on the pic. Can you prove that's not what happened in the pics?

You're just taking that position because your in UK and it's a Triumph.

 

[dannyyankou]

Display stays up to 10 seconds on after each use.So literally someone could have just used it and then position the arm to where it is captured on the pic. Can you prove that's not what happened in the pics?

That's a good point, but I think they should have a couple promotional shots with the display off so that people don't get the wrong idea.

 

[kdarling]

Does anyone else think it's false advertising for companies to portray smartwatches in lifestyle shots with their displays powered on — when clearly they would be powered off in real life? Obviously they look more appealing with a perfect reflection free watch face rendering, but will some shoppers be tricked into thinking this is how the product will actually look when worn?

Unfortunately for your point, you picked an Android Wear device, whose displays can be set to be on all the time (or at least an abbreviated watch face mode).

More specifically, you picked an LG Watch R, which has the most beautiful and highly visible always-on display that I've seen yet. As luck would have it, I just got one in and have been wearing it all day (*)

If you want to give example ads where a smartwatch should really mostly have a dead display, you'd be more accurate to use Apple Watch ads instead.

(*) I've read many comments from people who say this or that about Android Wear watches.

So I did what I often do: buy used versions of the devices begin discussed, so I can see for myself and then speak from authority. So far, I've gotten the Moto 360, LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live, and now the LG Watch R. I have to say that the LGWR has impressed me more than all of the rest put together. It doesn't look too big even on my fairly slim wrist, the display is bright and incredibly easy to read, and it's fully round. Now I'll see if it can really go 24 hours without charging.

 

[twisted-pixel]

Apple are always showing phones and watches with the time set as 10:09. Are you saying that you'd be happy to get a watch that only showed one time because that's what was advertised??

 

[Lloydbm41]

Unfortunately for your point, you picked an Android Wear device, whose displays can be set to be on all the time (or at least an abbreviated watch face mode).

More specifically, you picked an LG Watch R, which has the most beautiful and highly visible always-on display that I've seen yet. As luck would have it, I just got one in and have been wearing it all day (*)

If you want to give example ads where a smartwatch should really mostly have a dead display, you'd be more accurate to use Apple Watch ads instead.

(*) I've read many comments from people who say this or that about Android Wear watches.

So I did what I often do: buy used versions of the devices begin discussed, so I can see for myself and then speak from authority. So far, I've gotten the Moto 360, LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live, and now the LG Watch R. I have to say that the LGWR has impressed me more than all of the rest put together. It doesn't look too big even on my fairly slim wrist, the display is bright and incredibly easy to read, and it's fully round. Now I'll see if it can really go 24 hours without charging.

I was about to post the same thing about Android Wear having 'always on' capability, which is yet another advantage for Android Wear devices over the Apple Watch. Considering Apple is claiming 18 hour battery life WITH battery saver mode engaged, how many hours would the watch actually get in an always on mode? 4-5???

 

[Time Less]

I would still want to display my watch face 24/7 for other people to see.

How vain. JK it does look nice when the display is always on. Make it look like a real watch. Of course battery life takes a huge hit.

 

[ISO50]

Unfortunately for your point, you picked an Android Wear device, whose displays can be set to be on all the time (or at least an abbreviated watch face mode).

Good point, I wasn't aware of that feature. So, here is an Apple Watch example.

 

[Rogifan]

Watch doesn't look as bad because it's not slavishly trying to copy the look of a traditional watch. The android wear watch I see the most in the wild is the Almost 360 and whenever I see it the display is off.

 

[dannyyankou]

Good point, I wasn't aware of that feature. So, here is an Apple Watch example.

Image

Image

Apple Watch is the best looking smartwatch with the screen off, that's for sure.

 

[MH01]

What about women wearing makeup.

They take it off and OMG !!!!

Or a wonder bra!!

 

[zacheryjensen]

I was about to post the same thing about Android Wear having 'always on' capability, which is yet another advantage for Android Wear devices over the Apple Watch. Considering Apple is claiming 18 hour battery life WITH battery saver mode engaged, how many hours would the watch actually get in an always on mode? 4-5???

Wrong. That is not their claim. With power save mode on, it's 72 hours. It's 48 hours if all you do is use the timekeeping feature as normal.

The 18 hour battery life claim is based on a rather high level of use, actually, and has been confirmed as a low estimate by a developer that was invited to Apple for developing apps in their secret little watch app dev camp.

http://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html

 

[cdm283813]

I was about to post the same thing about Android Wear having 'always on' capability, which is yet another advantage for Android Wear devices over the Apple Watch. Considering Apple is claiming 18 hour battery life WITH battery saver mode engaged, how many hours would the watch actually get in an always on mode? 4-5???

Technically the OP is doing some false advertising himself by using a Android Wear watch to prove his point. On my LG G watch the display is always on and the look can very from one watch face app to another.
Even in full ambient mode (screen always on but no color) I get over 24 hours of use.

 

[Lucifer666]

This is the 'bored let's talk about anything' stage.

 

[kdarling]

The 18 hour battery life claim is based on a rather high level of use, actually, and has been confirmed as a low estimate by a developer that was invited to Apple for developing apps in their secret little watch app dev camp.

Apple says:

All-Day Battery Life
Up to 18 hours

Testing conducted by Apple in March 2015 using preproduction Apple Watch and software paired with an iPhone using preproduction software. All-day battery life is based on 18 hours with the following use: 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours. Battery life varies by use, configuration, and many other factors; actual results will vary.

90 time checks + 90 notifications, 4 seconds each = 720 seconds = 12 minutes.

45 minutes of app use = what? Hard to know without knowing what the apps are. Some activities equal just seconds of CPU usage. I mean, Flappy Bird would be using lots of resources, while looking at a calendar might not use much at all But okay, add in the full time even though.

12 + 45 + 30 = 87 minutes of use over 18 hours, or an average of ~4 minutes per hour. Not sure if that counts as "high level" of use or not.

The "Workout Test" and "Music Playback Test" seem more high usage, since those lasted for 6.5 hours each before the battery died.